Municipal Services Committee Tackles Proposal to Hire Five Contractors to Assist Pasadena Water and Power

The Pasadena City Council’s Municipal Services Committee will deliberate today on a recommendation to secure the services of five contractors for Pasadena Water and Power to perform “unique skills and expertise which are not present in the existing workforce,” as PWP describes them.

Among the five are two Pasadena-based companies: TTG Engineers and Stantec.

“Through the normal course of providing electrical service to its customers, Pasadena Water and Power must perform a considerable amount of engineering and design to ensure that the electrical distribution system is safe and reliable,” PWP Interim General Manager Shari Thomas writes in an Agenda Report for next week’s City Council meeting. “PWP’s electrical engineering personnel are dedicated to engineering design and construction management which support the on-going upgrade of infrastructure. In order to complete the work detailed in PWP’s Power Distribution System Master Plan, PWP needs supplemental resources.”

Aside from TTG Engineers and Stantec, PWP is recommending that the City Council authorize Interim City Manager Steve Mermell to enter into four-year contracts, without competitive bidding, with Power-Tech Engineers, VTA Consulting, and WorleyParsons Group, for “professional or unique services” for the utility. The five contracts will cost a total not to exceed $5 million, according to the recommendation.

PWP selected the five firms out of 20 proposals received after a Request for Proposals was sent out to 159 companies in December 2015.

Thomas said procuring the services of these firms will provide the assistance needed to complete the various PWP Master Plan projects and speed up the implementation of new advanced projects, such as the smart grid initiative, mobile application implementation and crosstown tie feasibility.

“The specific firms recommended were selected for their ability to provide the types of engineering resources and services most needed for the capital work plan,” Thomas said in the report. “In 2009, six contracts valued between $500,000 to $1,000,000 were awarded to varied contractors for similar consulting services. At the time a specific task is to be performed, each of the firms that successfully bid on the engineering services required will be asked to provide a quote for the scope of work.”

The table below shows the five contractors and the amounts they will be paid for their services:

Thomas said the firms listed are the best qualified to complete the required engineering services based on the broad range of distinct engineering services offered.

“The recommended firms have agreed to execute City contracts without exceptions to the City’s terms and conditions,” Thomas says in the Agenda Report. “PWP will issue tasks describing specific scopes of work with a list of required deliverables and a not-to-exceed amount for each task. The total costs of the tasks under each contract will not exceed the amounts authorized by Council.”

The PWP chief is expected to present the proposal before the Municipal Services Committee, at its meeting 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Thomas will also provide an update on the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility, about which PWP has been conducting customer outreach and education programs to let its customers know about possible rotating blackouts in the summer as the facility undergoes repair. She will also provide a Pasadena Water Conservation Update, and report on the status of the city’s Glenarm Repowering Project.